Anthony Joshua wasn’t the only one who showed he can get off the floor and come out swinging this weekend.

And while Swansea City couldn’t quite land a knock-out blow at Old Trafford, the performance that earned what could be an oh-so-precious point showed there’s no chance Paul Clement’s side are going to throw the towel in.

It would have been easy for Swansea to have crumbled, to have cowered in the corner here against a Premier League heavyweight.

Though this is no classic Manchester United side, they are still a side who had not lost in 24 league games before this clash – and not lost at home since the start of the season.

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And a daunting task of staying in touch with safety seemed doomed when the old Old Trafford factor kicked in in first-half injury time.

Swansea players went from disbelief to downright anger when referee Neil Swarbrick pointed to the spot after Marcus Rashford went down having come into contact with Lukasz Fabianski’s shadow.

When Wayne Rooney converted and faces like thunder disappeared down the tunnel, you wondered whether focus would disappear with them, if self-pity would take over. The sucker-punch seemed to have caught Swansea flush.

Marcus Rashford went down easily in the first half to earn his side a penalty

But, though they took a little time, though they were understandably groggy from the blow, Swansea recovered and rose again as Gylfi Sigurdsson delivered with delightful precision at just the right time.

Having given away the 79th-minute free-kick in Sigurdsson’s striking distance, it’s fair to say Rooney, England’s captain at Euro 2016, will be sick of the sight of the Iceland ace.

It was the least Swansea deserved – a view shared by Clement after the game – but they may well have had grabbed the win before the bell. Had Fernando Llorente got any kind of touch on a floated Sigurdsson delivery, there would have been a win for the ages to talk about for years to come.

As it is, Swansea still have work to do if history is to be written. By again matching Hull point for point this weekend, the two-point gap remains with three games to go.

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Indeed, it will be a key test of Swansea’s mettle how they respond in their late kick-off against Everton next weekend when – if it goes as expected for Hull at home against Sunderland – they could begin the game five points behind.

But having stressed his belief that his side turned a corner with that win over Stoke last weekend, this was further evidence that Swansea have found their fight when they needed it most.

It does beg the question where were such qualities of battle and bottle against West Ham or Watford; if they had produced some of the quality and channelled intensity in those away fixtures then South Wales stomachs may not be knotted as tightly as they are going into these final three weeks.

Yet, just as it is with boxing, sometimes confidence is king. It is true with players and manager.

Observers noted it in Clement before this game, of a swagger back in the former Real and Bayern No.2’s approach having clearly been affected by that run of one point from six games before Stoke. There was a confidence in which he set out his side here, a positive approach that respected the opposition – still full of quality for a team suffering with injuries – but ensured that the focus was on how Swansea could attack the game.

It seems to have rubbed off on players, the belief in the game plan and the purpose in the play back big time. From the off it reminded of that win at Liverpool back in January, a victory that seemed to suggest survival was inevitable.

Tom Carroll, in turn, delivered his best performance since that day as the diamond shone once more, he and Leon Britton busily cutting down United’s avenues of attack an cutting out passes to spring attacks of their own, Jodran Ayew running the channels gamely.

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The energy was there, so too the hunger as Llorente sensed his chance of hurting United. He almost did on 14 minutes, Daley Blind having to head off the line after David de Gea saved an instinctive effort as he turned Eric Bailly. Jordan Ayew forced a save but the ball would just not fall for the visitors before a fall for the hosts proved decisive.

Federico Fernandez had stood out for Swansea at the back – two brilliant challenges stopping United’s hopes as they found joy from wide as the counter threatened – but the fact they found themselves behind was nothing to do with defence nor goalkeeper, with Fabianski having earlier saved well from Jesse Lingard.

Gylfi Sigurdsson celebrates scoring his side's equaliser

It was down to Rashford who anticipated contacted from the Pole who was hasty in rushing out. Yet the contact never came, certainly not before the England striker started to fall. Swarbrick took some time to come to his decision, checking with a linesman with a worse view than he had. Is that not obvious sign of doubt?

By the time Rooney converted, the doubt laid in how Swansea would recover, how they would get to their feet.

And though they had to hold on and hold off a resurgent United, they would not give up. Sigurdsson had been brilliant between boxes, but his accuracy seemed a little off. Perhaps he had been saving it for a free-kick that could not have been placed better, could not have made de Gea look more silly; the Spaniards studs looked as if they had been cemented in.

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Llorente may well have added to his misery, may well have added to the joy in the away end, but that killer blow never came. Having enjoyed tussling with centre-backs and demanding the ball all afternoon, when he had lost them and got the ball as Sigurdsson floated in a free-kick he seemed to lose his bearings.

But, crucially, Swansea have not lost ground, not lost heart and, should they continue to perform like this, will surely not lose their Premier League status.

Because the draw feels worth more than a point. If there were predictions of grabbing something at Old Trafford, you envisaged Swansea having backs to the wall, relying on defensive or goalkeeping heroics, playing on United’s struggles this season to break sides down.

But here they played, they passed, they pressed. Most importantly, they got off the floor and came out swinging. The fight is still on.